Budge Over
by drcjsnider
Summary: After Rose breaks up with her boyfriend, she needs to find a place to sleep for the evening. Scorpius reluctantly lets her stay with him.


**Title:** Budge Over  
**Prompt:** 006. I will dig a hole, write the word 'LOVE' inside, and make you fall in it.  
**Summary:** After Rose breaks up with her boyfriend, she needs to find a place to sleep for the evening. Scorpius reluctantly lets her stay with him.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** None  
**Word Count:** 2321  
**A/N:** Written for the 2012 LJ smrw_ficafest prompt exchange.

"Budge over."

A boney elbow in the ribs knocked Scorpius out of a deep sleep. "What?"

"Budge over; I need to sleep here tonight."

"No. Go sleep with Al." Scorpius took a deep breath and tried to slip back into his dream.

"I can't. He's got company."

Scorpius cracked open an eye. "Really? Who?"

"No clue. I just heard some feminine sighs coming from inside his room."

"Interesting," Scorpius murmured and closed his eyes.

"Now move over."

"Sod off." Scorpius knew he was being rude, but he could barely deal with Rose when all his senses were functioning normally, there was no way he could handle her in the middle of the night.

"Don't be like that; I'm tired."

"What's wrong with your flat?"

"It's being sprayed for Hufflepuffs."

Scorpius chuckled slightly. "Does that mean you finally broke up with McMillian?"

"I broke up with him three weeks ago, but he's only now moving his shit out."

"That's what you get for dating someone who has to take a Bludger to head before he can see what's right in front of his eyes." For the life of him, Scorpius couldn't understand why someone as smart and gorgeous as Rose always ended up dating such losers.

"Great insight," Rose groused. "Where were you eight months ago?"

Scorpius snorted. "I was here, Rose. Where I've always been."

"Yeah," she sighed, suddenly sounding tired. "I should have come to you earlier."

Scorpius felt an unwanted stab of sympathy. It was unwanted because if he didn't remain exasperated by the way Rose jumped from relationship to relationship, he'd start daydreaming about what it would be like if he and she were together. "Buck up, you sound pathetic."

"I am pathetic. Let me stay the night."

"Fine, go sleep on the sofa." That would be safe. Scorpius could Apparate to work from his room the next morning so he wouldn't have to see Rose's undoubtedly adorable sleep-tousled hair.

"I can't. It puts a crick in my neck ever since you put that anti-sizing charm on it."

"Your enlargement spells were destroying the integrity of the fabric."

"You're such a ponce."

Scorpius felt the mattress depress as Rose sat on the edge of his bed. A surge of anxiety shot through him. She could not sleep with him. There was no way he could lie next to her for an entire evening without either blurting out his feelings or making a pass. He attempted to mask his panic with annoyance. "Damn it, Rose. There isn't space for two people to sleep comfortably."

"We'll snuggle. You can pretend that you're in a healthy relationship."

He groaned. It was just his luck that she remembered the stupid, piggish comment he'd made right after leaving Hogwarts. "I'm never telling you anything personal again."

"Good luck with that," Rose said as she kicked off her trainers and shimmied out of her jeans. "Someone who buys a single bed because he doesn't want the girls he brings home to stay the night is obviously in need of a confessor."

Scorpius watched as Rose crawled under the covers. She lay down facing him, their noses almost touched. He struggled to keep his emotions under control. "Or I need bring home better girls."

"Definitely thinner girls, my arse is hanging halfway off the bed. Who's going to spoon who?"

His mouth went dry. Scorpius knew that if he wanted to maintain his sanity and not risk his friendship with Rose, he needed to get out of the room immediately. However, the thought of being able to hold her in his arms all night was quickly overcoming all feelings of self-preservation. "Will you molest me if I let you spoon me?"

"What? No! At least not until you are fast asleep," she joked.

He chuckled. "Fine, roll over."

Rose turned and scooted back until Scorpius wrapped an arm around her waist. He pulled her tight against him. They seemed to fit together so well that Scorpius wasn't surprised that she immediately relaxed. "Ooohh… this feels good."

"You feel good," he replied, his breath lightly brushing the back of her neck. He was being honest, but suspected Rose would think he was teasing. After all, that had been the extent of their relationship for the last six years – he teased and she flirted – with no resolution ever being reached.

"Are you hitting on me?"

"If my hand isn't on your breast, I'm not hitting on you."

Rose giggled just like Scorpius expected. "I can't believe some lucky witch hasn't snatched you up yet."

"My mother can't believe it either." His mother had been nagging him for the last year to give up his crush on Rose and turn his attention to someone available and more steadfast.

"Maybe I should floo her and we can work on fixing you up."

"Please spare me that horror." Scorpius could bloody-well imagine the deft efficiency with which Rose and Astoria Malfoy would line up potential mates for him. He'd probably end up married and miserable within six months.

"Who is it you don't trust, me or your mother? I wouldn't let her set you end up with some pure-blood princess."

"My mother isn't interested in pure-blood princesses; she just wants me to find someone who is mature, emotionally stable, and not out to use me."

"Yeah, that sounds horrible. I can see why you'd want to avoid that," Rose mocked.

Scorpius poked her in the side with his finger as punishment for her sarcasm. "I didn't say that I didn't want my mother to set me up. I said that if you and she got together to set me up it would be painful."

"What kind of girls do you imagine I would set you up?" Rose pouted.

Scorpius probably should have considered the matter thoughtfully, but it was hard to think with Rose pressed tightly against him, "Outspoken, independent, swots, who care more about social causes than their appearance."

"Oh nice," Rose replied. "I know you better than that."

"I don't think so." If Rose knew him so well, she'd have realized years ago that Scorpius was interested in her.

"Please. I've met every girl you've seriously dated since we were at Hogwarts. I know your taste in women."

"Astound me," he said.

"Welllll," Rose drew the word out to build suspense, "you like tall, thin girls. Not too tall, but you want to be able to look them in the eyes."

He nodded, his chin brushing against Rose's shoulder. Ever since he could remember Rose had been tall. She'd towered over both him and Al until fifth year when they'd finally gained a couple of inches on her. "Go on."

"You like them pale and shapely. I doubt you've ever dated someone who didn't look good in a tight sweater."

"It is nice when they have hips to hold too," he said. Scorpius had always thought that Rose had the perfect body. Everything in proportion, yet with curves that had knocked him for a loop the few times he'd glimpsed her in swimwear.

"You also like interesting girls. Not necessarily bookish, but girls who have something to say for themselves, who know something or have been somewhere."

"It does help to keep the boredom at bay."

Rose tried to look over her shoulder at him. "I would never set you up with someone stupid."

Scorpius grinned. He suspected that she didn't have any friends who were stupid; she definitely was smarter than the average bird. "Good call. Anything else?"

"Well, they need to be pretty. You seem to be drawn to the wholesome girl-next-door type rather than to more exotic and sexy witches."

"My father would blame prolonged exposure to Weasleys for that preference."

She laughed. "If I had to have dinner with one person over forty it would be your dad. He is always good for some snark."

One of Rose's most attractive qualities in Scorpius' mind was how well she got on with his family. She didn't see them as bitter bigots, who were mad at the world and disgusted with their place in it. Rather, she saw them as funny and sarcastic cynics willing to openly mock society's flawed sense of self-righteousness. Although Scorpius suspected that Rose was much too kind in her assessment of the Malfoys, it was her opinion that had forced him to reevaluate the distain he'd held for his father and grandfather since starting Hogwarts. "Have I ever told you how much I adore your laugh?"

"You are trying to distract me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm getting too close to describing your ideal woman for comfort, perhaps?"

She was getting close, but Scorpius didn't find it at all uncomfortable. He actually felt a bit giddy at the thought of her guessing his secret. Despite his earlier worries, tonight it felt like fate was intervening to finally bring him and Rose together. "You've got a few of the details right, but I still don't think you have a clue about the entire package."

Rose sighed. "Your lack of faith in me is depressing."

Scorpius decided to give her a big clue. "You still haven't speculated on hair color."

"Oh that isn't even a challenge. You only date blonds with lots of lovely, long hair."

"Are you suggesting that I'm a hair snob?" He asked in an exaggerated tone of affront.

"No. I'm stating as an absolute fact that you are a hair snob. You'd never seriously date someone whose hair wasn't exquisite."

Scorpius nuzzled Rose's hair and took a deep breath. "Your hair is exquisite."

"But it isn't blond."

"Blond isn't my favorite color." He smirked, knowing that she would hate the idea of being wrong.

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it is my second favorite."

Rose jerked up to a sitting position at stared down at him. "Since when?"

"Always."

At Rose's skeptical look, Scorpius modified his answer. "Well maybe since I was sixteen."

Rose lay down and automatically snuggled back against him. He wondered if she felt how naturally comfortable the two of them were together. "So what is your favorite hair color?"

"Red."

Rose shook her head causing her hair to brush across Scorpius face. "Then why haven't you ever dated a ginger?"

"Maybe I'm waiting for a specific ginger to be available."

"Victorie is not going to leave Teddy for you."

Scorpius chuckled. "You're cousin is beautiful, but she isn't the girl I'm thinking about."

Rose was silent for a long time and Scorpius could imagine her biting her lip while she thought. "Lily really isn't as interesting as she pretends."

"I know. It isn't Lily I'm talking about." He couldn't believe that Lily was her second guess. He'd never had even a passing fancy for Lily. He wondered if Rose was stalling or perhaps had placed him so firmly in the friend category that she'd never contemplated the possibility that they could be anything else.

"Do you love this girl you are waiting on?"

Scorpius froze at the strain in Rose's voice. Was she nervous about his answer, worried that maybe he was in love with some other girl? Or did she suspect that he wanted her? It was time for Scorpius to either take a risk or settle for remaining just her friend. "I could fall in love with her, if she would let me."

"Wow. I always figured the only way you'd ever fall in love was if a girl dug a hole, wrote the word 'love' inside, and then pushed you in."

"Maybe an ordinary girl, but this girl is amazing," he replied, determined to take his shot.

"Do I know her?"

"Yeah," he whispered, before he pressed his lips gently to her neck.

Rose rolled over so that she was once again nose to nose to Scorpius. She looked much calmer than Scorpius felt. "It's me?"

He nodded. "Do you mind?"

Shaking her head, Rose gave him a shy smile. "I'm happy, although a bit stunned that you've felt this way for a while. Why are you just telling me now?"

"You've never be single long enough to me to make my move."

She reached out to stroke his cheek and Scorpius turned his head to kiss her palm. "So should I always expect you to be a bit slow when it comes to emotions?"

"I was cautious, not slow. I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

"You rather I flitted from bad boyfriend to bad boyfriend, while you had a string of meaningless encounters?"

"You think you could have done better?" he asked.

"I know I could have," Rose replied, her grin growing cocky. "Mind you, I'd have been sneaky about it."

"You've never been sneaky in your life." Rose was so upfront and honest that it was painful at times.

"You are so naive."

Scorpius shook his head. "It's easy to be bold now that I've already put my feelings on the line."

She gave him a light kiss. "Thank you for that, but I'm pretty sure you never would have done so if I hadn't made the first move."

"What move?" Scorpius asked, exasperated. "Breaking-up with McMillian does not constitute making a move on me."

"I know," Rose said. "But what would you call me waking you up in the middle of the night, begging for a place to sleep, cuddling up with you in bed, and then describing your ideal girl as having all my characteristics?"

Scorpius scoffed. "You said my ideal girl had lots of blond hair."

"I was going to offer to change it when you told me that red was already your favorite."

Scorpius eyes grew wide and his lips quirked in realization that he'd been set up. He found he didn't mind as Rose laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I got tired of waiting," she admitted.

"I'm glad," he said, before kissing her liked he dreamed about for long.

The End


End file.
